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Gary Gifford wrote on Thu, May 10, 2007 08:16 PM UTC:
It has been said that the Aanca was a Gryphon.  However, I came across it
being defined as an 'Elephant Bird.'  

At the site: http://history.chess.free.fr/acedrex.htm we can read about
'Grant Acedrex' d'Alphonse X de Castille (from the year 1283) which
concerns the Aanca [in part], as it was part of a game being discussed.

It is written there, 'The description given by Alfonso does not
correspond to a Gryphon. This word is obviously of Oriental origin, the
arabic word anka designating a mythical giant bird often found in tales
such Sinbad the Sailor. This bird was similar to the Rok or the Phoenix.
The Aepyornis of Madagascar  could have been the inspiration. This bird is
now extinct but it is very likely that it co-existed with man in historic
times. Arabic merchants could have been aware of this animal and it is
very plausible that this was the basis for the legend.'

It is an interesting chess site.  I highly recommend it.

Abdul-Rahman Sibahi wrote on Thu, May 10, 2007 09:09 PM UTC:
'Anqa'a' is Arabic for the phoenix. It's, according to the myth, a bird
that lives for 500 years, after which it burns and dies. Then, a new bird
is born from the ashes. I've read nothing about it being huge.

The Rok, as mentioned in Sinbad's tales, is different. It is just a huge bird.

Funny I never saw the connection before.

Talking about Arabic ancient myth creatures, there's the 'Hamah'. It's
a bird that flies over the murdered man's grave demanding revenge, so to speak, until a revenge is attained.

David Paulowich wrote on Thu, May 10, 2007 09:45 PM UTC:

The Aanca always moves to an alternate color square. Its movement diagram contains the destination squares of Wazir, Knight and Zebra. My Spotted Gryphon thread here breaks the movement diagram of the Gryphon into a colorbound piece and a color alternating piece.

Gary, I have EDITED yesterday's comment to your Gryphon Aanca Chess page, adding a reference to a Dai Shogi piece that (partially) includes the Grand Rook.


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